According to Secretary of State Debra Bowen's website, the President won the popular vote with 60.24%, with Mitt Romney in second place at 37.12%, and Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson in third place at 1.10%.[1] The Democrats have won the state in every presidential election after RepublicanGeorge H.W. Bush won the state in 1988.

As noted in the Green Papers for California, "159 district delegates are to be bound to presidential contenders based on the primary results in each of the 53 congressional districts: each congressional district is assigned 3 National Convention delegates and the presidential contender receiving the greatest number of votes in that district will receive all 3 of that district's National Convention delegates. 10 at-large delegates (10 base at-large delegates plus 0 bonus delegate) are to be bound to the presidential contender receiving the greatest number of votes in the primary statewide. In addition, 3 party leaders, the National Committeeman, the National Committeewoman, and the chairman of the California's Republican Party, will attend the convention as unpledged delegates by virtue of their position."[5]

1.
United States presidential election, 2012
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The United States presidential election of 2012 was the 57th quadrennial American presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 6,2012, as the incumbent president, Obama secured the Democratic nomination with no serious opposition. Romney effectively secured the nomination by early May as the economy improved, the campaign was marked by a sharp rise in fundraising, including from new nominally independent Super PACs. The campaigns focused heavily on issues, debate centered largely around sound responses to the Great Recession in terms of economic recovery. Other issues included long-term federal budget issues, the future of social programs. Obama defeated Romney, winning both the popular vote and the college, with 332 electoral votes to Romneys 206. Obama carried all states and districts that he had won in the 2008 presidential election except North Carolina, Indiana, as such, his margin of victory decreased from 2008. Consequently, Obama became the first incumbent since Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1944 to win reelection with fewer electoral votes, nonetheless, Obama also became the first two-term president since Ronald Reagan to win both his presidential bids with an absolute majority of the nationwide popular vote. Not since 1820 had three consecutive American presidents succeeded in securing two consecutive terms, september–October 2012, Early voting begins in some states and continue as late as November 5. November 6,2012, Election Day, at around 11,15 p. m. EST, November 7,2012, Romney concedes the election to Obama at around 1,00 a. m. November 10,2012, The electoral outcomes of all 50 states, Obama won 332 electoral votes while Romney won 206 electoral votes. December 17,2012, The Electoral College formally re-elects President Obama, January 3,2013, The 113th Congress is sworn in. January 4,2013, Electoral votes are counted before a joint session of Congress. The re-election of President Obama and Vice President Biden is certified, January 20,2013, President Obama and Vice President Biden take the oaths of office, Obamas second presidential term begins at noon. January 21,2013, The inauguration ceremonies are held, Florida, Georgia, Ohio, Tennessee, and West Virginias state legislatures approved measures to shorten early voting periods. Florida and Iowa barred all felons from voting, kansas, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin state legislatures passed laws requiring voters to have government-issued IDs before they could cast their ballots. This meant, typically, that people without drivers licenses or passports had to gain new forms of ID, Obama, the NAACP, and the Democratic Party fought against many of the new state laws. Clinton said the moves would effectively disenfranchise core voter blocs that trend liberal, including students, Blacks

2.
Barack Obama
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Barack Hussein Obama II is an American politician who served as the 44th President of the United States from 2009 to 2017. He is the first African American to have served as president and he previously served in the U. S. Senate representing Illinois from 2005 to 2008, and in the Illinois State Senate from 1997 to 2004. Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, two years after the territory was admitted to the Union as the 50th state and he grew up mostly in Hawaii, but also spent one year of his childhood in Washington State and four years in Indonesia. After graduating from Columbia University in 1983, he worked as a community organizer in Chicago, in 1988 Obama enrolled in Harvard Law School, where he was the first black president of the Harvard Law Review. After graduation, he became a civil rights attorney and professor, Obama represented the 13th District for three terms in the Illinois Senate from 1997 to 2004, when he ran for the U. S. Senate. In 2008, Obama was nominated for president, a year after his campaign began and he was elected over Republican John McCain, and was inaugurated on January 20,2009. Nine months later, Obama was named the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, during his first two years in office, Obama signed more landmark legislation than any Democratic president since LBJs Great Society. Main reforms were the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, after a lengthy debate over the national debt limit, Obama signed the Budget Control and the American Taxpayer Relief Acts. In foreign policy, Obama increased U. S. troop levels in Afghanistan, reduced nuclear weapons with the U. S. -Russian New START treaty, and ended military involvement in the Iraq War. He ordered military involvement in Libya in opposition to Muammar Gaddafi, after winning re-election over Mitt Romney, Obama was sworn in for a second term in 2013. Obama also advocated gun control in response to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, and issued wide-ranging executive actions concerning climate change and immigration. In foreign policy, Obama ordered military intervention in Iraq in response to gains made by ISIL after the 2011 withdrawal from Iraq, Obama left office in January 2017 with a 60% approval rating. He currently resides in Washington, D. C and his presidential library will be built in Chicago. Obama was born on August 4,1961, at Kapiʻolani Maternity & Gynecological Hospital in Honolulu and he is the only President to have been born in Hawaii. He was born to a mother and a black father. His mother, Ann Dunham, was born in Wichita, Kansas, of mostly English descent, with some German, Irish, Scottish, Swiss and his father, Barack Obama Sr. was a married Luo Kenyan man from Nyangoma Kogelo. Obamas parents met in 1960 in a Russian language class at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, the couple married in Wailuku, Hawaii on February 2,1961, six months before Obama was born. In late August 1961, Obamas mother moved him to the University of Washington in Seattle for a year

3.
Mitt Romney
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Raised in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, by his parents George and Lenore Romney, he spent 2½ years in France as a Mormon missionary, starting in 1966. He married Ann Davies in 1969, and they have five sons, by 1971, he had participated in the political campaigns of both parents. He earned a BA at Brigham Young University in 1971 and a joint JD–MBA at Harvard University in 1975, Romney entered the management consulting industry, and in 1977 secured a position at Bain & Company. Later serving as Bains chief executive officer, he helped lead the company out of a financial crisis, in 1984, he co-founded and led the spin-off company Bain Capital, a highly profitable private equity investment firm that became one of the largest of its kind in the nation. Active in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he served during his business career as the bishop of his ward and then stake president in his home area near Boston. After stepping down from Bain Capital and his leadership role in the LDS Church. Upon losing to longtime incumbent Ted Kennedy, he resumed his position at Bain Capital, years later, a successful stint as President and CEO of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the 2002 Winter Olympics led to a relaunch of his political career. He also presided over the elimination of a projected $1. 2–1.5 billion deficit through a combination of spending cuts, increased fees, and the closure of corporate tax loopholes. He did not seek re-election in 2006, instead focusing on his campaign for the Republican nomination in the 2008 U. S. presidential election and he won several primaries and caucuses, however, he lost to the eventual nominee, Senator John McCain. His considerable net worth, estimated in 2012 at $190–250 million, following his term as Governor of Massachusetts in 2007, Romney was the Republican Partys nominee for President of the United States in the 2012 election. He won the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, becoming the first Mormon to be a major party presidential nominee and he was defeated by incumbent Democratic President Barack Obama in the November 2012 general election, losing by 332–206 electoral college votes. The popular vote margin was 51–47 percent in Obamas favor, following the election, he initially kept a low profile, and later became more visible politically. Willard Mitt Romney was born on March 12,1947, at Harper University Hospital in Detroit, Michigan, one of four born to automobile executive George W. Romney. His mother was a native of Logan, Utah, and his father was born to American parents in a Mormon colony in Chihuahua, of primarily English descent, he also has Scottish and German ancestry. Another great-great-grandfather, Parley P. Pratt, helped lead the early Church, Romney has three elder siblings, Margo, Jane, and Scott. His parents named him after a friend, businessman J. Willard Marriott, and his fathers cousin, Milton Mitt Romney. Romney was referred to as Billy until kindergarten, when he indicated a preference for Mitt, in 1953, the family moved from Detroit to the affluent suburb of Bloomfield Hills. His father became the chairman and CEO of American Motors the following year, soon helping the company avoid bankruptcy, by 1959, his father had become a nationally known figure in print and on television, and the youngster idolized him

4.
Democratic Party (United States)
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The Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The Democrats dominant worldview was once socially conservative and fiscally classical liberalism, while, especially in the rural South, since Franklin D. Roosevelt and his New Deal coalition in the 1930s, the Democratic Party has also promoted a social-liberal platform, supporting social justice. Today, the House Democratic caucus is composed mostly of progressives and centrists, the partys philosophy of modern liberalism advocates social and economic equality, along with the welfare state. It seeks to provide government intervention and regulation in the economy, the party has united with smaller left-wing regional parties throughout the country, such as the Farmer–Labor Party in Minnesota and the Nonpartisan League in North Dakota. Well into the 20th century, the party had conservative pro-business, the New Deal Coalition of 1932–1964 attracted strong support from voters of recent European extraction—many of whom were Catholics based in the cities. After Franklin D. Roosevelts New Deal of the 1930s, the pro-business wing withered outside the South, after the racial turmoil of the 1960s, most southern whites and many northern Catholics moved into the Republican Party at the presidential level. The once-powerful labor union element became smaller and less supportive after the 1970s, white Evangelicals and Southerners became heavily Republican at the state and local level in the 1990s. However, African Americans became a major Democratic element after 1964, after 2000, Hispanic and Latino Americans, Asian Americans, the LGBT community, single women and professional women moved towards the party as well. The Northeast and the West Coast became Democratic strongholds by 1990 after the Republicans stopped appealing to socially liberal voters there, overall, the Democratic Party has retained a membership lead over its major rival the Republican Party. The most recent was the 44th president Barack Obama, who held the office from 2009 to 2017, in the 115th Congress, following the 2016 elections, Democrats are the opposition party, holding a minority of seats in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. The party also holds a minority of governorships, and state legislatures, though they do control the mayoralty of cities such as New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, and Washington, D. C. The Democratic Party traces its origins to the inspiration of the Democratic-Republican Party, founded by Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and that party also inspired the Whigs and modern Republicans. Organizationally, the modern Democratic Party truly arose in the 1830s, since the nomination of William Jennings Bryan in 1896, the party has generally positioned itself to the left of the Republican Party on economic issues. They have been liberal on civil rights issues since 1948. On foreign policy both parties changed position several times and that party, the Democratic-Republican Party, came to power in the election of 1800. After the War of 1812 the Federalists virtually disappeared and the national political party left was the Democratic-Republicans. The Democratic-Republican party still had its own factions, however. As Norton explains the transformation in 1828, Jacksonians believed the peoples will had finally prevailed, through a lavishly financed coalition of state parties, political leaders, and newspaper editors, a popular movement had elected the president

5.
Republican Party (United States)
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The Republican Party, commonly referred to as the GOP, is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, the other being its historic rival, the Democratic Party. The party is named after republicanism, the dominant value during the American Revolution and it was founded by anti-slavery activists, modernists, ex-Whigs, and ex-Free Soilers in 1854. The Republicans dominated politics nationally and in the majority of northern States for most of the period between 1860 and 1932, there have been 19 Republican presidents, the most from any one party. The Republican Partys current ideology is American conservatism, which contrasts with the Democrats more progressive platform, further, its platform involves support for free market capitalism, free enterprise, fiscal conservatism, a strong national defense, deregulation, and restrictions on labor unions. In addition to advocating for economic policies, the Republican Party is socially conservative. As of 2017, the GOP is documented as being at its strongest position politically since 1928, in addition to holding the Presidency, the Republicans control the 115th United States Congress, having majorities in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. The party also holds a majority of governorships and state legislatures, the main cause was opposition to the Kansas–Nebraska Act, which repealed the Missouri Compromise by which slavery was kept out of Kansas. The Northern Republicans saw the expansion of slavery as a great evil, the first public meeting of the general anti-Nebraska movement where the name Republican was suggested for a new anti-slavery party was held on March 20,1854, in a schoolhouse in Ripon, Wisconsin. The name was chosen to pay homage to Thomas Jeffersons Republican Party. The first official party convention was held on July 6,1854, in Jackson and it oversaw the preserving of the union, the end of slavery, and the provision of equal rights to all men in the American Civil War and Reconstruction, 1861–1877. The Republicans initial base was in the Northeast and the upper Midwest, with the realignment of parties and voters in the Third Party System, the strong run of John C. Fremont in the 1856 United States presidential election demonstrated it dominated most northern states, early Republican ideology was reflected in the 1856 slogan free labor, free land, free men, which had been coined by Salmon P. Chase, a Senator from Ohio. Free labor referred to the Republican opposition to labor and belief in independent artisans. Free land referred to Republican opposition to the system whereby slaveowners could buy up all the good farm land. The Party strove to contain the expansion of slavery, which would cause the collapse of the slave power, Lincoln, representing the fast-growing western states, won the Republican nomination in 1860 and subsequently won the presidency. The party took on the mission of preserving the Union, and destroying slavery during the American Civil War, in the election of 1864, it united with War Democrats to nominate Lincoln on the National Union Party ticket. The partys success created factionalism within the party in the 1870s and those who felt that Reconstruction had been accomplished and was continued mostly to promote the large-scale corruption tolerated by President Ulysses S. Grant ran Horace Greeley for the presidency. The Stalwarts defended Grant and the system, the Half-Breeds led by Chester A. Arthur pushed for reform of the civil service in 1883

6.
Illinois
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Illinois is a state in the midwestern region of the United States, achieving statehood in 1818. It is the 6th most populous state and 25th largest state in terms of land area, the word Illinois comes from a French rendering of a native Algonquin word. For decades, OHare International Airport has been ranked as one of the worlds busiest airports, Illinois has long had a reputation as a bellwether both in social and cultural terms and politics. With the War of 1812 Illinois growth slowed as both Native Americans and Canadian forces often raided the American Frontier, mineral finds and timber stands also had spurred immigration—by the 1810s, the Eastern U. S. Railroads arose and matured in the 1840s, and soon carried immigrants to new homes in Illinois, as well as being a resource to ship their commodity crops out to markets. Railroads freed most of the land of Illinois and other states from the tyranny of water transport. By 1900, the growth of jobs in the northern cities and coal mining in the central and southern areas attracted a new group of immigrants. Illinois was an important manufacturing center during both world wars, the Great Migration from the South established a large community of African Americans in Chicago, who created the citys famous jazz and blues cultures. Three U. S. presidents have been elected while living in Illinois, Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, additionally, Ronald Reagan, whose political career was based in California, was the only U. S. president born and raised in Illinois. Today, Illinois honors Lincoln with its official slogan, Land of Lincoln. The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum is located in the capital of Springfield. Illinois is the spelling for the early French Catholic missionaries and explorers name for the Illinois Native Americans. American scholars previously thought the name Illinois meant man or men in the Miami-Illinois language and this etymology is not supported by the Illinois language, as the word for man is ireniwa and plural men is ireniwaki. The name Illiniwek has also said to mean tribe of superior men. The name Illinois derives from the Miami-Illinois verb irenwe·wa he speaks the regular way and this was taken into the Ojibwe language, perhaps in the Ottawa dialect, and modified into ilinwe·. The French borrowed these forms, changing the ending to spell it as -ois. The current spelling form, Illinois, began to appear in the early 1670s, the Illinois name for themselves, as attested in all three of the French missionary-period dictionaries of Illinois, was Inoka, of unknown meaning and unrelated to the other terms. American Indians of successive cultures lived along the waterways of the Illinois area for thousands of years before the arrival of Europeans, the Koster Site has been excavated and demonstrates 7,000 years of continuous habitation

7.
Massachusetts
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It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east, the states of Connecticut and Rhode Island to the south, New Hampshire and Vermont to the north, and New York to the west. The state is named for the Massachusett tribe, which inhabited the area. The capital of Massachusetts and the most populous city in New England is Boston, over 80% of Massachusetts population lives in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, a region influential upon American history, academia, and industry. Originally dependent on agriculture, fishing and trade, Massachusetts was transformed into a manufacturing center during the Industrial Revolution, during the 20th century, Massachusetts economy shifted from manufacturing to services. Modern Massachusetts is a leader in biotechnology, engineering, higher education, finance. Plymouth was the site of the first colony in New England, founded in 1620 by the Pilgrims, in 1692, the town of Salem and surrounding areas experienced one of Americas most infamous cases of mass hysteria, the Salem witch trials. In 1777, General Henry Knox founded the Springfield Armory, which during the Industrial Revolution catalyzed numerous important technological advances, in 1786, Shays Rebellion, a populist revolt led by disaffected American Revolutionary War veterans, influenced the United States Constitutional Convention. In the 18th century, the Protestant First Great Awakening, which swept the Atlantic World, in the late 18th century, Boston became known as the Cradle of Liberty for the agitation there that led to the American Revolution. The entire Commonwealth of Massachusetts has played a commercial and cultural role in the history of the United States. Before the American Civil War, Massachusetts was a center for the abolitionist, temperance, in the late 19th century, the sports of basketball and volleyball were invented in the western Massachusetts cities of Springfield and Holyoke, respectively. Many prominent American political dynasties have hailed from the state, including the Adams, both Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, also in Cambridge, have been ranked among the most highly regarded academic institutions in the world. Massachusetts public school students place among the top nations in the world in academic performance, the official name of the state is the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. While this designation is part of the official name, it has no practical implications. Massachusetts has the position and powers within the United States as other states. Massachusetts was originally inhabited by tribes of the Algonquian language family such as the Wampanoag, Narragansett, Nipmuc, Pocomtuc, Mahican, and Massachusett. While cultivation of crops like squash and corn supplemented their diets, villages consisted of lodges called wigwams as well as longhouses, and tribes were led by male or female elders known as sachems. Between 1617 and 1619, smallpox killed approximately 90% of the Massachusetts Bay Native Americans, the first English settlers in Massachusetts, the Pilgrims, arrived via the Mayflower at Plymouth in 1620, and developed friendly relations with the native Wampanoag people. This was the second successful permanent English colony in the part of North America that later became the United States, the event known as the First Thanksgiving was celebrated by the Pilgrims after their first harvest in the New World which lasted for three days

8.
Joe Biden
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Joseph Robinette Joe Biden Jr. is an American politician who was the 47th Vice President of the United States from 2009 to 2017, having been jointly elected twice with President Barack Obama. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented Delaware as a United States Senator from 1973 until becoming Vice President in 2009, Biden was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, in 1942, and lived there for ten years before moving to Delaware. He became an attorney in 1969, and was elected to the New Castle County council in 1970 and he was first elected to the Senate in 1972, and became the sixth-youngest senator in U. S. history. He was re-elected to the Senate six times, and was the fourth most senior senator at the time of his resignation to assume the Vice Presidency in 2009 and he was a long-time member and former chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee. He opposed the Gulf War in 1991, but advocated U. S. and he voted in favor of the resolution authorizing the Iraq War in 2002, but opposed the surge of U. S. troops in 2007. He chaired the Judiciary Committee during the contentious U. S. Supreme Court nominations of Robert Bork, Biden unsuccessfully sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 1988 and in 2008, both times dropping out after lacklucster showings. In the 2008 U. S. presidential election, Barack Obama chose Biden to be his mate in the race. He became the first Roman Catholic, and the first Delawarean, in 2011, he opposed going ahead with the military mission that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden. Obama and Biden were re-elected in 2012, in October 2015, after months of speculation, Biden chose not to run for President of the United States in 2016. On January 12,2017, Obama awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, after leaving office, Biden was named the Benjamin Franklin Presidential Practice professor at the University of Pennsylvania. Biden was born on November 20,1942, at St. Marys Hospital in Scranton, Pennsylvania, to Catherine Eugenia Jean Biden and Joseph Robinette Joe Biden Sr. He was the first of four siblings in a Catholic family, with a sister, Valerie and his mother was of either Irish or Northern Irish descent, with roots variously attributed to County Louth or County Londonderry. His paternal grandparents, Mary Elizabeth and Joseph H. Biden, an oil businessman from Baltimore, Maryland, were of English, French and his paternal great-great-great grandfather, William Biden, was born in Sussex, England, and immigrated to the United States. His maternal great-grandfather, Edward Francis Blewitt, was a member of the Pennsylvania State Senate, Bidens father had been very well-off earlier in his life, but suffered several business reversals by the time his son was born. For several years, the family had to live with Bidens maternal grandparents, when the Scranton area went into economic decline during the 1950s, Bidens father could not find enough work. In 1953, the Biden family moved to an apartment in Claymont, Delaware, Joe Biden Sr. was then more successful as a used car salesman, and the familys circumstances were middle class. He played on the team as well. During these years, he participated in an anti-segregation sit-in at a Wilmington theatre, academically, he was an above-average student, was considered a natural leader among the students, and was elected class president during his junior and senior years

9.
Paul Ryan
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Paul Davis Ryan Jr. is an American politician who is the 54th and current Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. Ryan is a member of the Republican Party who has served as the U. S, Representative for Wisconsins 1st congressional district since 1999. Ryan previously served as Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, from January 3 to October 29,2015 and he was the Republican Party nominee for Vice President of the United States, running alongside former Governor Mitt Romney of Massachusetts in the 2012 election. Ryan, together with Democratic Senator Patty Murray, negotiated the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013 and he named lobbyist John David Hoppe as his Chief of Staff. Paul Davis Ryan, Jr. was born in Janesville, Wisconsin, the youngest of four children of Elizabeth A. Betty, who became an interior designer, and Paul Davis Ryan. His father was of Irish ancestry and his mother of German, one of Ryans paternal ancestors settled in Wisconsin prior to the Civil War. His great-grandfather, Patrick William Ryan, founded a company in 1884. Ryans grandfather, Stanley M. Ryan, was appointed U. S. Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, as class president Ryan was a representative of the student body on the school board. Following his second year, Ryan took a job working the grill at McDonalds and he was on his high schools ski, track, and varsity soccer teams and played basketball in a Catholic recreational league. He participated in academic and social clubs including the Model United Nations. Ryan and his family went on hiking and skiing trips to the Colorado Rocky Mountains. When he was 16, Ryan found his 55-year-old father lying dead in bed of a heart attack. Following the death of his father, Ryans grandmother moved in with the family, from the time of his fathers death until his 18th birthday, Ryan received Social Security survivors benefits, which were saved for his college education. His mother remarried, to Bruce Douglas and he often visited the office of libertarian professor Richard Hart to discuss the theories of these economists and of Ayn Rand. Hart introduced Ryan to National Review, and with Harts recommendation Ryan began an internship in the D. C. office of Wisconsin Senator Bob Kasten where he worked with Kastens foreign affairs adviser and he attended the Washington Semester program at American University. Ryan worked summers as a salesman for Oscar Mayer and once got to drive the Wienermobile, Ryan was a member of the College Republicans, and volunteered for the congressional campaign of John Boehner. He was a member of the Delta Tau Delta social fraternity, Betty Ryan reportedly urged her son to accept a congressional position as a legislative aide in Senator Kastens office, which he did after graduating in 1992. In his early working on Capitol Hill, Ryan supplemented his income by working as a waiter, as a fitness trainer

10.
California Republican primary, 2008
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The California Republican primary,2008 was held on February 5,2008, with a total of 173 national delegates at stake. The delegates represented California at the Republican National Convention, there were three delegates to every congressional district and fourteen bonus delegates. The winner in each of the 53 congressional districts was awarded all of that districts delegates, the statewide winner was awarded 11 of the 14 bonus delegates, with the 3 remaining delegates assigned to party leaders. Voting in the primary was restricted to registered Republican voters, early polls showed Rudy Giuliani in the lead. Polls taken closer to the primary either showed Mitt Romney or John McCain as the favored candidate, California Democratic primary,2008 California state elections, February 2008 Republican Party presidential primaries,2008 United States presidential election in California,2008

11.
Ron Paul
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Ronald Ernest Ron Paul is an American author, physician, and former politician. Representative for Texas 14th and 22nd congressional districts and he represented the 22nd congressional district from 1976 to 1977 and from 1979 to 1985, and then represented the 14th congressional district, which included Galveston, from 1997 to 2013. On three occasions, he sought the presidency of the United States, as the Libertarian Party nominee in 1988 and as a candidate in the Republican primaries of 2008 and 2012. Paul is a critic of the governments fiscal policies, especially the existence of the Federal Reserve and the tax policy, as well as the military–industrial complex. Paul has also been a critic of mass surveillance policies such as the USA PATRIOT Act. Paul was the first chairman of the conservative PAC Citizens for a Sound Economy and has characterized as the intellectual godfather of the Tea Party movement. A native of the Pittsburgh suburb of Green Tree, Pennsylvania, Paul is a graduate of Gettysburg College and the Duke University School of Medicine and he served as a flight surgeon in the U. S. Air Force from 1963 to 1968. He worked as an obstetrician-gynecologist from the 1960s to the 1980s and he became the first Representative in history to serve concurrently with a son or daughter in the Senate when his son, Rand Paul, was elected to the U. S. Senate from Kentucky in 2010. On July 12,2011, Paul announced that he would forgo seeking another term in Congress in order to focus on his presidential bid, at the 2012 Republican National Convention, Paul received 190 delegate votes. In January 2013, Paul retired from Congress but still active on college campuses. Ronald Ernest Paul was born on August 20,1935, in Pittsburgh, the son of Howard Caspar Paul, who ran a dairy company. His paternal grandfather emigrated from Germany, and his paternal grandmother, as a junior at suburban Dormont High School, he was the 200 meter dash state champion. Paul went to Gettysburg College, where he was also a member of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity and he graduated with a B. S. degree in Biology in 1957. Paul served as a surgeon in the United States Air Force from 1963 to 1965. Paul and his wife relocated to Texas, where he began a private practice in obstetrics. While a medical resident in the 1960s, Paul was influenced by Friedrich Hayeks The Road to Serfdom and he came to know economists Hans Sennholz and Murray Rothbard well, and credits to them his interest in the study of economics. Casey defeated him for the 22nd district, President Gerald Ford later appointed Casey to direct the Federal Maritime Commission, and Paul won an April 1976 special election to the vacant office after a runoff. Paul lost the regular election to Democrat Robert Gammage by fewer than 300 votes, but defeated Gammage in a 1978 rematch

12.
Rick Santorum
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Richard John Rick Santorum is an American attorney and Republican Party politician. He served as a United States Senator representing Pennsylvania and was the Senates third-ranking Republican and he ran as a candidate for the 2012 Republican Party presidential nomination, finishing second to the eventual Republican nominee Mitt Romney. In January 2017, he became a CNN political commentator, Santorum was elected as a United States Senator for Pennsylvania in 1994. He served two terms until losing his bid in 2006. A devout, practicing Catholic, Santorum is a conservative who opposes same-sex marriage. While serving as a senator, Santorum was the author of what came to be known as the Santorum Amendment, in 2005, Santorum introduced the Workplace Religious Freedom Act along with Senator John Kerry. In the years following his departure from the Senate, Santorum worked as a consultant, private-practice lawyer, on June 6,2011, Santorum announced his run for the Republican nomination in the 2012 U. S. presidential election. Upon announcing his campaign suspension on April 10,2012, he had won 11 primaries and caucuses and received nearly 4 million votes, Santorum officially endorsed Romney on May 7,2012. On May 27,2015, Santorum announced his candidacy for the 2016 presidential election and he ended his campaign on February 3,2016. Richard John Santorum was born in Winchester, Virginia, Santorum grew up in Berkeley County, West Virginia, and Butler County, Pennsylvania. In West Virginia, his family lived in an apartment provided by the Veterans Administration, Santorum attended elementary school at Butler Catholic School and then went on to the Butler Senior High School. He was nicknamed Rooster, supposedly for both a cowlick strand of hair and a nature, particularly on important political issues. After his parents transferred to the Naval Station Great Lakes in northern Illinois, Santorum attended the Roman Catholic Carmel High School in Mundelein, Illinois, for one year, while at Penn State, Santorum joined the Tau Epsilon Phi fraternity. He then completed a one-year MBA program at the University of Pittsburghs Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business, in 1986, Santorum received a JD degree with honors from Dickinson School of Law. Santorum first became involved in politics in the 1970s through volunteering for Senator John Heinz. Santorum left his law practice in 1990 after his election to the House of Representatives. Having been groomed by Kirkpatrick & Lockhart, Santorum decided Democratic congressman Doug Walgren was vulnerable, needing money and political support, he courted GOP activist and major donor Elsie Hillman, the chair of the state Republican Party. In 1990, at age 32, Santorum was elected to the U. S. House of Representatives to represent Pennsylvanias 18th congressional district and he scored a significant upset in the heavily Democratic district, defeating seven-term Democratic incumbent Doug Walgren by a 51%–49% margin

13.
Texas
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Texas is the second largest state in the United States by both area and population. Other major cities include Austin, the second most populous state capital in the U. S. Texas is nicknamed the Lone Star State to signify its former status as an independent republic, and as a reminder of the states struggle for independence from Mexico. The Lone Star can be found on the Texan state flag, the origin of Texass name is from the word Tejas, which means friends in the Caddo language. Due to its size and geologic features such as the Balcones Fault, although Texas is popularly associated with the U. S. southwestern deserts, less than 10 percent of Texas land area is desert. Most of the centers are located in areas of former prairies, grasslands, forests. Traveling from east to west, one can observe terrain that ranges from coastal swamps and piney woods, to rolling plains and rugged hills, the term six flags over Texas refers to several nations that have ruled over the territory. Spain was the first European country to claim the area of Texas, Mexico controlled the territory until 1836 when Texas won its independence, becoming an independent Republic. In 1845, Texas joined the United States as the 28th state, the states annexation set off a chain of events that caused the Mexican–American War in 1846. A slave state before the American Civil War, Texas declared its secession from the U. S. in early 1861, after the Civil War and the restoration of its representation in the federal government, Texas entered a long period of economic stagnation. One Texan industry that thrived after the Civil War was cattle, due to its long history as a center of the industry, Texas is associated with the image of the cowboy. The states economic fortunes changed in the early 20th century, when oil discoveries initiated a boom in the state. With strong investments in universities, Texas developed a diversified economy, as of 2010 it shares the top of the list of the most Fortune 500 companies with California at 57. With a growing base of industry, the leads in many industries, including agriculture, petrochemicals, energy, computers and electronics, aerospace. Texas has led the nation in export revenue since 2002 and has the second-highest gross state product. The name Texas, based on the Caddo word tejas meaning friends or allies, was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves, during Spanish colonial rule, the area was officially known as the Nuevo Reino de Filipinas, La Provincia de Texas. Texas is the second largest U. S. state, behind Alaska, though 10 percent larger than France and almost twice as large as Germany or Japan, it ranks only 27th worldwide amongst country subdivisions by size. If it were an independent country, Texas would be the 40th largest behind Chile, Texas is in the south central part of the United States of America. Three of its borders are defined by rivers, the Rio Grande forms a natural border with the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas to the south

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Pennsylvania
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Pennsylvania /ˌpɛnsᵻlˈveɪnjə/, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state located in the northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The Appalachian Mountains run through its middle, Pennsylvania is the 33rd largest, the 5th most populous, and the 9th most densely populated of the 50 United States. The states five most populous cities are Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Erie, the state capital, and its ninth-largest city, is Harrisburg. Pennsylvania has 140 miles of shoreline along Lake Erie and the Delaware Estuary. The state is one of the 13 original founding states of the United States, it came into being in 1681 as a result of a land grant to William Penn. Part of Pennsylvania, together with the present State of Delaware, had earlier been organized as the Colony of New Sweden and it was the second state to ratify the United States Constitution, on December 12,1787. Independence Hall, where the United States Declaration of Independence and United States Constitution were drafted, is located in the states largest city of Philadelphia, during the American Civil War, the Battle of Gettysburg, was fought in the south central region of the state. Valley Forge near Philadelphia was General Washingtons headquarters during the winter of 1777–78. Pennsylvania is 170 miles north to south and 283 miles east to west, of a total 46,055 square miles,44,817 square miles are land,490 square miles are inland waters, and 749 square miles are waters in Lake Erie. It is the 33rd largest state in the United States, Pennsylvania has 51 miles of coastline along Lake Erie and 57 miles of shoreline along the Delaware Estuary. Cities include Philadelphia, Reading, Lebanon and Lancaster in the southeast, Pittsburgh in the southwest, the tri-cities of Allentown, Bethlehem, the northeast includes the former anthracite coal mining communities of Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Pittston City, and Hazleton. Erie is located in the northwest, the state has 5 regions, namely the Allegheny Plateau, Ridge and Valley, Atlantic Coastal Plain, Piedmont, and the Erie Plain. Straddling two major zones, the majority of the state, with the exception of the corner, has a humid continental climate. The largest city, Philadelphia, has characteristics of the humid subtropical climate that covers much of Delaware. Moving toward the interior of the state, the winter climate becomes colder, the number of cloudy days increase. Western areas of the state, particularly locations near Lake Erie, can receive over 100 inches of snowfall annually, the state may be subject to severe weather from spring through summer into fall. Tornadoes occur annually in the state, sometimes in large numbers, the Tuscarora Nation took up temporary residence in the central portion of Pennsylvania ca. Both the Dutch and the English claimed both sides of the Delaware River as part of their lands in America

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Elections in California
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Elections in California are held to fill various local, state and federal seats. In California, regular elections are held every year, however. Special elections may be held to fill vacancies at other points in time, recall elections can also be held. Additionally, statewide initiatives, legislative referrals and referenda may be on the ballot, every four years, the United States holds an indirect election for President and Vice President. In such elections, voters cast their votes for a slate of representatives who have pledged to cast their votes for a particular presidential and vice presidential candidate in the Electoral College. During the election, the voters of the state select the slate of electors on the ballot by voting for the ticket that they are pledged to, the slate of electors pledged to the ticket with the most votes statewide gets to vote in the Electoral College. Although, the electors are not obligated to vote for the candidates they are pledged to, the number of electors the state is allocated is equal to the number representatives in Congress that the state has. California has an election every four years and, in 2003. Primary elections were held in March or June until 2008, when they were held in February, general elections, which cover statewide issues, are held in November. On a county-by-county basis, elections also cover municipal issues, in addition, a special election can occur at any time. In this system voters may vote for any candidate in the primary, elections for President, Vice President, political party state central committees, and county central committees are party-nominated. Candidates may qualify in one of two ways, by payment of a fee, or by the collection of registered voters signatures on an in-lieu-of-filing-fee petition, candidates must also file a candidate intention statement with the Secretary of State, as well as nomination forms with their home county. However, Audie Bock, a member of the Green Party, was elected in 1999 during what is known as special election musical chairs, local elections in California at the county and city level are officially non-partisan and political party affiliations are not included on local election ballots. A ballot proposition is a law that is submitted to the electorate for approval in a direct vote. It may take the form of an amendment or an ordinary statute. A ballot proposition may be proposed by the State Legislature or by a signed by members of the public under the initiative system. November 6,2018, United States gubernatorial elections, 2018#California See lists on the side for past election results. S

16.
Federal government of the United States
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The Federal Government of the United States is the national government of the United States, a republic in North America, composed of 50 states, one district, Washington, D. C. and several territories. The federal government is composed of three branches, legislative, executive, and judicial, whose powers are vested by the U. S. Constitution in the Congress, the President, and the courts, including the Supreme Court. The powers and duties of these branches are defined by acts of Congress. The full name of the republic is United States of America, no other name appears in the Constitution, and this is the name that appears on money, in treaties, and in legal cases to which it is a party. The terms Government of the United States of America or United States Government are often used in documents to represent the federal government as distinct from the states collectively. In casual conversation or writing, the term Federal Government is often used, the terms Federal and National in government agency or program names generally indicate affiliation with the federal government. Because the seat of government is in Washington, D. C, Washington is commonly used as a metonym for the federal government. The outline of the government of the United States is laid out in the Constitution, the government was formed in 1789, making the United States one of the worlds first, if not the first, modern national constitutional republics. The United States government is based on the principles of federalism and republicanism, some make the case for expansive federal powers while others argue for a more limited role for the central government in relation to individuals, the states or other recognized entities. For example, while the legislative has the power to create law, the President nominates judges to the nations highest judiciary authority, but those nominees must be approved by Congress. The Supreme Court, in its turn, has the power to invalidate as unconstitutional any law passed by the Congress and these and other examples are examined in more detail in the text below. The United States Congress is the branch of the federal government. It is bicameral, comprising the House of Representatives and the Senate, the House currently consists of 435 voting members, each of whom represents a congressional district. The number of each state has in the House is based on each states population as determined in the most recent United States Census. All 435 representatives serve a two-year term, each state receives a minimum of one representative in the House. There is no limit on the number of terms a representative may serve, in addition to the 435 voting members, there are six non-voting members, consisting of five delegates and one resident commissioner. In contrast, the Senate is made up of two senators from each state, regardless of population, there are currently 100 senators, who each serve six-year terms

17.
United States presidential election
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These electors then in turn cast direct votes, known as electoral votes, for President and Vice President. The candidate who receives a majority of electoral votes for President or Vice President is then elected to that office. The Electoral College and its procedure is established in the U. S, Constitution by Article II, Section 1, Clauses 2 and 4, and the Twelfth Amendment. C. Casts the same number of votes as the least-represented state. Also under Clause 2, the manner for choosing electors is determined by state legislature. Many state legislatures used to select their electors directly, but over all of them switched to using the popular vote to help determine electors. In modern times, faithless and unpledged electors have not affected the outcome of an election. The Electoral College electors then formally cast their votes on the first Monday after December 12 at their respective state capitals. Congress then certify the results in early January, and the term begins on Inauguration Day. These primary elections are held between January and June before the general election in November, while the nominating conventions are held in the summer. Article Two of the United States Constitution originally established the method of presidential elections and this was a result of a compromise between those constitutional framers who wanted the Congress to choose the president, and those who preferred a national popular vote. Each state is allocated a number of electors that is equal to the size of its delegation in both houses of Congress combined. With the ratification of the 23rd Amendment to the Constitution in 1961, however, U. S. territories are not represented in the Electoral College. Constitutionally, the manner for choosing electors is determined within each state by its legislature, during the first presidential election in 1789, only 6 of the 13 original states chose electors by any form of popular vote. Gradually throughout the years, the states began conducting popular elections to choose their slate of electors, resulting in the overall. Under the original system established by Article Two, electors could cast two votes to two different candidates for president, the candidate with the highest number of votes became the president, and the second-place candidate became the vice president. This presented a problem during the election of 1800 when Aaron Burr received the same number of electoral votes as Thomas Jefferson. In the end, Jefferson was chosen as the president because of Alexander Hamiltons influence in the House of Representatives and this added to the deep rivalry between Burr and Hamilton which resulted in their famous 1804 duel